Golden State Warriors’ Omri Casspi accumulated three rebounds, two steals, an assist and three blocks against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Nhat V. Meyer — Bay Area News Group

Omri Casspi had the rare honor of sharing the postgame interview room podium with Stephen Curry on Wednesday night after the Warriors’ impressive victory over Minnesota, and Casspi definitely earned the spotlight love.

Closely studying Casspi’s numbers on the stat sheet handout during their joint session, Curry could have said any number of nice things about the game his new teammate had played. Instead, he chose to cite Casspi’s five fouls in 20 minutes.

“You were almost in the hacking club tonight,” said Curry with a wry grin, drawing a guilty-as-charged chuckle from Casspi.

Only moments before, someone asked Casspi why he was perspiring during the interview session. Casspi answered that it was hot in the room, but Warriors media relations chief Raymond Ridder offered another theory.

Congratulations, Omri, you are now a full-fledged member of the Warriors after taking savage ribbing from a star teammate and a star staffer following a fabulous game. It has happened to the best of them. These guys live to playfully jab each other. Last year in the playoffs, for example, Zaza Pachulia presented Klay Thompson with a framed newspaper sport section at practice with a headline that read, “Hell Freezes Over, Pachulia outscores Thompson.” Klay had scored six points in the game, Zaza seven.

Casspi and Pachulia are fast friends, so the newcomer no doubt has been briefed about how it all works, and Casspi seemed so thrilled to be getting roasted after this latest game that he even joined in the fun.

Casspi was playing so well during the game, filling a big part of the huge void of Kevin Durant’s injury absence, the Oracle crowd took up an MVP chant for him at one point. He confessed he heard it, and clearly couldn’t wait to talk about it.

“I went to K.D. after the game and was like, ‘K.D., you’re holding me back, bro,’” Casspi said. “It was just funny, man. I missed a free throw because of that, too. I couldn’t focus. Energy, the adrenaline. It was just fun.”

That Casspi has forged a strong early niche in Oakland should have been pretty predictable. Beyond that wild, wacky 36-point game he dropped on them two years ago at Oracle Arena, the Warriors have known about the strengths of his game for years. After all, he played five of first seven seasons in the NBA right up the road in Sacramento, and if you were to sculpt the perfect Warriors reserve small forward from scratch, he’d pretty much fit the Casspi mold.

Save last year’s injury-plagued nightmare of a season, Casspi’s had a solid career as a predominately backup player. But coming to the Warriors fulfills a dream as far as how he wants to play the game, and his all-around performance against Minnesota was the indicator: 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, three rebounds, two steals, an assist, and yes, those three blocks. In a word, he was everywhere.

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“I have great guys around me who take a lot of focus and I’m able to do the stuff that a role player should do,” Casspi said. “I’m enjoying it. I’m loving it.”

To be sure, it was a key performance with Durant sitting out with a thigh bruise. Casspi will have a number of nights when he doesn’t get many minutes playing behind Durant and sometimes Andre Iguodala, but he was fully up to the task once it was learned during the morning shootaround that Durant would not play.

It might have been the first time this year coach Steve Kerr had a general idea how he was going to use Casspi. He readily admitted afterward he usually has no clue going into any given game.

“Omri’s just a fantastic piece to have,” Kerr said. “I don’t even know what his role is from one night to the next. I guess that’s just what his role is, is to be ready. I never know before the game when I’m going to put him in, but I know when I put him in he’s going to do a great job and keep the action going with his cutting, his energy and his defense. He’s been a tremendous addition.”

Now that he’s healed up from an ankle injury that derailed him the first couple of weeks, Casspi is sure to get more opportunities to demonstrate his worth. Whatever eventuates, he is good with any decision Kerr makes about how many minutes he plays and how he fits into a particular game.

“Like I told Steve in the summer and like I tell him every day, even though you don’t know what might happen, you know that I’ll be ready,” he said. “That’s just being a professional and a guy who knows his role on this team.”

Iguodala, a man who knows how to fill up a stat sheet and also provide the intangibles, understands just how valuable Casspi might be to the Warriors based on his versatility.

“He fits in well with us because he’s always in the right place,” Iguodala said. “High-IQ players excel in our system on both ends on the court. He communicates well, he knows where to be and his skill set as a shooter/slasher/finisher around the rim fits in perfectly with us. I just enjoy playing with him. Great guy, and he’s only going to get better.”

Indeed, even when Durant returns, there may be no holding Omri back, bro.